This listing shows posts that went onto AustCrimeFiction.org in the last 14 days. Sorted into post type groups - Blogs (Updates), Books, Reviews.
Still juggling, still not getting enough books read. Not the worst problem, I've got, but apologies, as always to the authors and publishers wondering why I'm always so far behind!
I think I'm reading too many books at once - so nothing in the just finished pile in the last week but quite a few in the currently reading which are nearly there.
Still juggling, still not getting enough books read. What a "dreadful" problem to have.
The Bookshop Detectives: Tea & Cake & Death by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward (2026 Ngaio's)
In the gridlocked heart of Melbourne, a split-second of road rage changes everything. For one driver, the crash is a bizarre stroke of luck that sets their life on an upward trajectory they never thought possible. For the other, it is the first domino to fall in a terrifying downward spiral.
The claustrophobia of Room meets the camaraderie of Yellowjackets with a touch of Picnic at Hanging Rock in this dark, immersive, psychological thriller debut with a speculative/lite-horror edge.
Christmas Eve, 1974.
As Cyclone Tracy tears through Darwin, four girls disappear into the heart of the outback. No tracks. No bodies. No answers.
Decades later, one returns.
'The cloth that was over his head and tied tightly around his neck smelt like the army disposal store he'd been with his father. Lying on the floor of the van, hands tied behind his back, he closed his eyes and breathed in the kerosene-like scent of the sack, and he wished he was back there again. Back with his father on a Sunday afternoon ...'
They say your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. For Dan Milligan it isn't his life ... it's memories of his dad.
The Butcher of Aberdeen explores the chilling true crime story of Katherine Knight, delving into a life shaped by childhood trauma, violent relationships, and a relentless descent into madness.
A mother living in a small country town stabs her partner to death thirty-seven times before decapitating him, skinning him, and serving up slices of his cooked flesh at a table set for his children.
Gwynne Hogg is an enviable woman – until she discovers her beloved dad is a serial killer.
As her dad’s decades-old secrets finally catch up with him, Gwynne struggles to reconcile the man she trusted most with the crimes he’s accused of. She tries to process it all while keeping the wheels of her ‘normal’ life turning. That means caring for her depressed mum, enduring the stares of other parents on the nursery run, and showing up for clients at her PR firm, all under the relentless gaze of the media.
Never underestimate a tea lady.
Sydney, 1968. When a popular local man is murdered, police are quick to pin the blame on his glamorous model fiancée, who has since disappeared. But Hazel suspects a criminal cover-up and rallies the tea ladies to investigate; a quest that brings danger right to her door.
New graduate Fei Fei Chou is an outlier at her prestigious law firm.
She's too quiet.
She wears too much makeup.
She’s only here because the boss has a thing for Asians.
But Fei isn’t here to climb the corporate ladder – she’s here for revenge.
Thirty years ago, three schoolgirls were kidnapped and abused by a man who’s never been identified. The information Fei needs to find him is buried somewhere in the firm’s records.
DI Jan Talantire is called to a cottage in Ilfracombe, where the female occupant is found dead, impaled with a crucifix. The woman, who had been renting the house for a few months, is well known locally. Documents found at her house indicate her name is Ruth Lyle. The name means nothing to the young PC who found her, but DI Talantire knows that this cannot be true.
Meet Martin Maxwell: octogenarian, dog lover and amateur sleuth.
For most residents at Twilight Lodge, a picture-perfect retirement home by the sea, their days are filled with jigsaws, endless cups of tea and afternoon karaoke. But when Martin discovers that three residents have died in less than two weeks, all with clean bills of health, he suspects foul play. Trouble is, no-one believes him.
Fully dramatised adaptations of all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories, brought to life with a full cast of actors, sound effects and music
Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and his dear friend Dr Watson are among the most enduringly popular fictional characters ever created. Their adventures have been dramatised countless times on radio, TV and film, but until BBC Radio 4 took on the challenge in 1989, no one had ever attempted to adapt all sixty stories.
Followers of this series have probably read the second book THE LEWIS PASS, which when I reviewed it way back, I did mention:
The only downside is one of those endings that sort of reeks of "and in the next book", which may drive some readers bats, and might mean others are standing by in anticipation. All in all though, a series well worth keeping an eye on (from the very start if you can).
A standalone mystery novel from prolific author Ann Cleeves - I listened to this as an audio book borrowed from the library. Set in Northumberland, Detective Peter Porteous is called to Cranwell Lake, where a diving instructor has found the body of a teenager, clearly dead for many years. A quick trawl through missing person reports concludes that the body is that of an enigmatic and secretive young man who had been reported missing in the early 1970s (I'm pretty sure now that the blurb is wrong - wasn't he reported missing by a lawyer after his foster parents died...?).
When they said write what you know, Trish McCormack got the memo. Growing up at the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand, and having worked in various national parks in NZ, her settings are always gloriously depicted. In this case Mt Cook is the central location, with two timelines wind through the story of Kath, her family, and her disappearance.
As always Part 2 / Other Places only of a long newsletter - click here if you missed the first section.
Region: England
Publication Date: Thu, 01/01/1998
End of April update in which, happily, again there are quite a few new / upcoming releases listed in a two part newsletter. Click here for the Other Places listing.